Thursday, August 18, 2016

More often than I like to admit, I come across articles from
the mainstream media that attempt to explain local issues with truck parking.
Few get it right. Some never mention hours-of-service regulations. Others do
not even realize the parking capacity issues despite federal attention in the
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

A recent truck
parking story on NJ.com managed
to fire up all cylinders regarding truck parking. Although the journalist did
cover many of the major talking points regarding the issue, he let the people
he interviewed highlight everything that is wrong with the situation. It was a
good technique.

The story is about trucks parked along the shoulder of
Interstate 287 in Mahwah, N.J., and how law enforcement and the city are
getting fed up with it. As one would imagine, truckers told a completely
different story.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

This week, everyone who ever met him has an Elvis story. The
King of Rock and Roll died Aug. 16, 1977, at his Graceland home in Memphis.
OOIDA’s president has one, too. And in response to a longtime member who has
asked for Jim Johnston’s Elvis story, here it is.

OOIDA President and CEO Jim Johnston enlisted in the U.S. Navy
in 1956. He was a boilerman and spent four years stationed on four different
ships – two troop ships, an ammunition ship and a survey ship. One of those
troop ships was the USS Randall.

Aboard the Randall, Jim went from Brooklyn to Germany and back,
moving GIs. One of those GIs on the Randall at the same time as Jim was U.S.
Army Pvt. Elvis Presley, who sailed for Germany in September 1958. Elvis was
serving as part of the 3rd Armored Division.

Jim says the trans-Atlantic trip took about 10 days. During that
time, Elvis might have tried to be a regular soldier, but it wasn’t easy. At 23
years old, Pvt. Presley was probably the most famous man alive.

“Everybody was getting their pictures taken with him, getting
autographs, but I thought I was too cool for that,” Jim recalls. “I never had a
conversation with him, but I passed him on the stairs one day and he said ‘good
morning.’ And the best I could do was kinda stammer.”

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

These lyrics to the Five Man Electrical Band song “Signs”
probably have a whole new meaning within the Vermont State Police department every
time a trucker gets stuck on hairpin turn or twisty road at Smugglers’ Notch.
Despite increased fines and all the signs, it has happened again.

Two of several signs warning truckers near Smugglers' Notch.(Photos courtesy of Vermont State Police)

In May, I reported on bill H876 in Vermont,
which would increase fines from $162 to $1,000 for any trucker who gets stuck
at Smugglers’ Notch on Vermont Route 108. Tractor-trailers have been prohibited
from using the road due to the extremely tight turns on the narrow roadway.
Since the problem kept popping up, lawmakers hoped the significantly increased
fines would get drivers to turn around.

I wrote that story before the bill was signed by the
governor in June. When speaking with Col. Jake Elovirta, director of Vermont
Department of Motor Vehicles’ Enforcement and Safety Division, I could tell he was
annoyed by the situation.

Monday, August 15, 2016

We have more info on our website about the devastating flooding in southern Louisiana that’s killed six people so far and forced thousands more to evacuate from their homes. But we also wanted to share this story about one trucker who was stranded for more than 24 hours along Interstate 12 between Livingston and Holden.

Truck driver, Gator Inglis, Abita Springs, La., passed the time by posting videos and photos on social media, and even used the video-conferencing app FaceTime to check in with the folks at WLOX News while he waited.

Inglis told the TV station that the situation “is like a Hurricane Katrina flashback …”

As of Monday morning, both the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-12 remained closed between U.S. 61 and I-55 in Hammond, according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. I-10 east and west remains closed between U.S. 165 and I-49, and between Siegen Lane and Louisiana Highway 73.

Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Sunday that the federal government has declared a major disaster for the state of Louisiana. An hours-of-service waiver is temporarily in effect for drivers providing direct assistance in the emergency. The waiver expires Sept. 10.

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